Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen, hailed by the The Economist as “opera’s newest star”, has taken the classical music world by storm since winning the much coveted Operalia competition in 2015. Her resounding debuts in all the most prestigious international venues have garnered overwhelming critical attention.
"Listening to Lise Davidsen is like watching a Roger Federer serve: there’s elegance, grace, apparently effortless fluidity… When you get the chance to hear last night’s Royal Opera’s Fidelio, just listen to the repeated “Noch heute”, Leonore’s outburst of joy that she will be allowed into Florestan’s dungeon “this very day”. It’s brutally difficult to sing, with the high G and high A appearing from nowhere, but Davidsen smashes the notes through the middle, soaring above a fortissimo orchestra with radiant timbre and expression. Covent Garden has seen many great role debuts over the years, but I doubt there have been many with quite this level of self-assurance." Bachtrack, March 2020
"Unleashing floods throughout her range, from gleaming, solar high notes to brooding depths, Davidsen offered a nearly supernatural turn in a role out of Greek legend. The radiating, shimmering, ever so slightly metallic overtones that halo her voice make her sound arrestingly powerful and visceral. You feel it as almost physical presence — pressing against your chest, raising the hairs on the back of your neck. Given Strauss’s paring down of his orchestra in “Ariadne” to chamber size, this is the rare occasion when the woman onstage sounds grander at her peak than the forces in the pit do at theirs."
The New York Times, March 2022
“Lise Davidsen, tall enough to be convincing as a boy, was an overwhelmingly thrilling Leonore from start to finish. The moment she opened up her huge, radiant voice which filled the theatre with resounding sound that bounced back with a vengeance, she reminded one, as I heard someone in a neighbouring seat whisper, that ‘this is what opera is all about!’
Opera Now, March 2020
Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen, “opera’s newest star” (The Economist) has taken the classical music world by storm since winning the much coveted Operalia competition in 2015. Her resounding debuts in all the most prestigious international venues have garnered overwhelming critical attention: “It’s been a long time since a singer has generated as much buzz,” wrote Gramophone in 2019 in the review of her debut album for Decca, which debuted at number one in the UK Classical charts, while in 2023The Telegraph hailed her “the greatest soprano in the world”.
Starting with the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and a solo recital on the stage of Metropolitan Opera, Davidsen makes many anticipated appearances this season which include two role debuts as Salome at the Opéra national de Paris and as Leonora in a new production of La Forza del Destino at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as returns to the roles of Giorgetta Il Tabarro and Lisa Queen of Spades, both at the Bayerische Staatsoper and her first staged Jenufa in Chicago. Audiences around the world can see her in recital in Santa Monica at Broad Stage Theatre; the Wiener Staatsoper; Teatro de Zarzuela in Madrid; Wigmore Hall in London and Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia. She is also joined by Freddie De Tommaso for gala recitals at Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Salzburg Easter Festival. In concert, she performs excerpts of La Forza del Destino at Norwegian National Opera; Wagner Wesendonk Lieder with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Carnegie Hall; and a program of Verdi and Strauss at Teatro Real in Madrid.
The previous season saw Davidsen make three major role debuts: as Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier at the Metropolitan Opera, as Giorgetta Il Tabarro at Gran Teatre del Liceu and as Elisabetta Don Carlo at Royal Opera House, where she also appeared as Elisabeth Tannhäuser. In her home country of Norway, she held an artistic residency at the Bergen International Festival singing her first Tosca in concert and Verdi Requiem, as well as masterclasses and a song recital. Other appearances included Tannhäuser at Staatsoper under den Linden in Berlin and numerous concert appearances in Paris, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona and at the Verbier Festival.
Some of her most notable recent appearances include: the reopening of Teatro alla Scala in Milan with a solo concert under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Chailly; her Bayreuth Festival debut as Elisabeth Tannhäuser and then Sieglinde in the new Ring Cycle; a new production of Fidelio at Royal Opera House; her debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Lisa Queen of Spades followed by Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos, and Chrysothemis in Elektra; a double appearance at the Wiener Staatsoper as Ellen Offord alongside Sir Bryn Terfel and Jonas Kaufmann in an all-star performance of Britten’s dramatic opera Peter Grimes, as well as Sieglinde Die Walküre; Ariadne auf Naxos at Aix-en-Provence Festival; Wiener Staatsoper and Glyndebourne Festival and her residency at the Barbican as Artist in Focus, where London audiences saw her in recital with Leif Ove Andsnes; an opera gala evening together with Freddie De Tommaso and pianist James Baillieu and a performance of Berg Seven Early Songs together with the Oslo Philharmonic and Klaus Mäkelä.
Despite the Covid crisis, Davidsen’s astonishing ascent has been unstoppable: in August 2020 she was one of the first stars featured by the Metropolitan Opera as part of their celebrated series: Met Stars Live in Concert. Davidsen’s rendition of Grieg En Svane and Ved Rondane from the recital was then broadcast together with the New Year’s Speech of King Harald V of Norway and in April 2021 she was a guest on Norway’s most popular chat show, Lindmo. Shortly after this in May 2021, she joined Bayerische Staatsoper with a concert performance of the 1st Act of Die Walküre alongside Jonas Kaufmann, and in the same week was awarded Female Singer of the Year by the International Opera Awards. Further highlights include Sieglinde Die Walküre in a new production at Deutsche Oper Berlin and in concert at Opera de Paris; the title role of Jenůfa at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Elisabeth Tannhäuser at Bayerische Staatsoper; a return to Bayreuth in Tobias Kratzer’s production of Tannhäuser and concert performances of Die Walküre; as well as a Strauss film project with the Norwegian National Opera. On the recital platform, her appearances include recitals at home in Oslo, for the Norwegian National Opera, in Germany at the Konzerthaus Dortmund, in Spain at the Palau de les Arts Valencia; and together with Leif Ove Andsnes in Trondheim and Rosendal Chamber Music Festival in Norway.
Her discography includes two solo orchestral recitals on Decca, a recording of Grieg songs together with fellow Norwegian Leif Ove Andsnes and the Grammy nominated Concert for Ukraine together with Metropolitan Opera. She has also recorded Der Freischütz and Fidelio, both released on Pentatone and Sibelius Luonnotar on Chandos.
Davidsen has graced the covers of numerous publications and her many prizes and awards include the 2022 Opera News Awards, 2021 Female Singer of the Year by the International Opera Awards; 2020 Anders Jahres Art and Culture Prize, 2018 Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award, Statoil Talent Bursary Award, Léonie Sonning Music Prize and the 2015 Kirstin Flagstad Award. In August 2020 she was one of the first stars featured by the Metropolitan Opera as part of their celebrated series: Met Stars Live in Concert. Davidsen’s rendition of Grieg En Svane and Ved Rondane from the recital was then broadcast together with the New Year’s Speech of King Harald V of Norway and in April 2021 she was a guest on Norway’s most popular chat show, Lindmo.
A 2014 graduate of the Opera Academy in Copenhagen, she has studied under Susanna Eken, previously gaining a degree from the Grieg Academy of Music in Bergen. In 2015, Davidsen was crowned winner of both the Operalia and the Queen Sonja competitions. Her breakthrough performances won her the First Prize, the Birgit Nilsson Award and the Audience Prize at the Operalia competition in London as well as the prize for the best performance of Norwegian music and the Ingrid Bjoner Scholarship at the Queen Sonja International Music Competition. She is also a triple winner at the 2015 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Amsterdam.
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